Right outside the Apple home, Brianna had given a rundown of how humans on Earth lived without magic or wings, and how they sort of knew the two through a television show called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Other than the obvious pony-to-human difference, she explained a few examples of how different this world was to the world they saw on TV.
“For the record, I’ll be the first to admit it’s a bit creepy in concept saying we’ve kinda been watching you this whole time, even if it is a different ‘you.’” Brianna said after she finished her explanation.
“Just a little, but y’all didn’t know this place was even real, so ah don’t blame ya for not thinking of it like that.” Applejack told her.
“Is that why you asked about if I was a DJ?” Vinyl asked to Brandon.
“Yeah. Your pony counterpart is pretty well known. Her nickname’s DJ-PON3.” Brandon replied.
“More like a stage name…and a cool one at that.” Vinyl nodded.
“Y’all don’t think it’s a good idea to admit that to everyone, though, do ya?” Applejack asked.
“Well…I think we had to tell SOMEONE to not be lying to ourselves every five seconds.” Brianna said back. “You two don’t mind keeping that a secret, right?”
“Well, shoot, all ya had to do was ask, Sugarcube.” Applejack smiled.
“Where should we say you’re from if anybody else asks?” Vinyl asked the two.
The twins looked at each other, pondering their answer.
“Say, since literally every place here is a pun on horse terms, can you think of one for the name Florida?” Brianna asked. “Say, why IS every location still horse puns, anyway? I mean, you’re all human in this version of Equestria.”
“Don’t ask us, it wasn’t our decision.” Vinyl chuckled.
“Give me a second, ah’ll think of a name.” Applejack said, crossing her arms. “Gosh, thinking of those kinda names on purpose is harder than ah thought.”
“Sure didn’t take Faust long, I’ll bet.” Brandon murmured.
“Nah, she didn’t make the names.” Vinyl waved him off. “At least, I think…”
Brandon tilted his head. “Wait, you know who we mean? We…didn’t mention Faust’s name before that.”
“Wait, who’s Faust in your world?” Vinyl asked.
“The creator of the show.” Brandon answered, waiting for Vinyl to reply after a short pause.
“Wow, that explains a whole lot…” Vinyl said back. “She’s essentially our ‘creator’ of sorts, too. Even of a higher power than Celestia and Luna themselves.”
“Hey, and another thing-“ Brianna started.
“Consarnit, ah thought AH was gonna ask all the questions here!” Applejack vented a bit. “Mah apologies, go on.”
Brianna tried not to chuckle, but had failed. “Anyway…what do they call Earth ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi here? It obviously can’t be the same names, can it?”
“Well, that’s pretty easy to connect.” Vinyl said. “Your pegasus would be called a Jupitarian, like Cloud Kicker. I’d guess someone like me would be a unicorn, and that one is a Titanian. Lastly, Applejack, being land-based with no magic is an Eponian. The names are essentially each race’s representatives, which would be Jupiter, Titania and Epona.” Vinyl explained, seeing Brianna crack up. “What’s so funny?”
“Epona?” Brianna repeated. “Oh wow, that is just oozing irony right there!” She laughed.
“Uh…” Brandon said, getting the joke, but not needing to respond quite that much. “Er, Epona is the name of a horse in a video game series called The Legend of Zelda. Although, I’m not sure if you know what video games are here…”
“Ah reckon those are the kinda games that one little boy in town plays.” Applejack said, realizing she broke her focus of finding a punny name for Florida. “Agh, ah can’t think of a name!”
“Never mind, we’ll just say Manehatten. We used to live near a place called Manhattan in our world anyway.” Brianna told her.
“Ah just hope no one get suspicious with that answer.” Applejack said, sighing upon being relived of making a non-existent pun.
“Well, we know what the city looks like in our world, and unless this Manehatten isn’t a bustling city with some pretty rude people in it, we don’t have a problem.” Brianna giggled.
“I can confirm that’s true.” Vinyl nodded. “Say, does your home have half of their sports teams suck and the other half perform very well?”
“Where do I begin…” Brandon said back, cursing the fact that those sucky teams happened to be his favorites even after their move to Florida.
The group was about to enter the house when Brianna stopped them one last time.
“Wait, did you bring up a little boy with games, AJ?” Brianna asked.
“Ah did…what of it?” AJ responded, seeing Brianna’s face brighten.
“Oh, nothing. Just another person we’d recognize.” Brianna replied, nudging Brandon.
“I know.” Brandon whispered with a grin.
The group (finally) went inside, taking in the overwhelming smell of apple flooding their nostrils.
“Bro…did we just die? Because I think we’re in heaven.” Brianna said, earning a playful punch in the shoulder.
“Uh, guys?” Vinyl said, snapping her fingers in front of Brianna. “Come meet the family.” She said as three other Apples took their seats at the table. One was an old lady wearing a green shirt with an apple pie on it. The lone male was a very tall man wearing red, his own shirt emblazoned with a large, green apple. The last was a little girl with a yellow shirt, red hair and a pink bow in it. “Guys, meet Granny Smith, Big MacIntosh and Applebloom.”
“And everyone here, this is Brandon and Brianna Sky.” Applejack introduced in reverse.
“Howdy there, young fellers! New friends of mah daughters, are ya?” Granny Smith spoke up.
The twins both nodded. “Your grandchildren are very kind, Granny.” Brianna smiled.
“Well ah’ll be, you skipped callin’ me ‘Ms. Smith.’ Ah don’t mind, ah prefer it that way.” Granny Smith said back.
“Where are y’all from?” Applebloom asked the two.
‘It’s almost like we just rehearsed this question.’ Brandon thought. “We’re from Manehatten.”
Applebloom gasped. “Do y’all know mah cousin, Babs Seed? Ah plan on makin’ her a part of the Talent Crusaders!”
“Talent Crusaders?” Brianna asked, the name throwing her off. “Oh, you mean-“
“The Talent Crusaders swear to find anybody their special talent, no matter who they are, what their talent is, where and when they find it, why they have that talent and how they find it! You can say we’re all Talent Crusader Talent Finders! YAY!” Applebloom stated and cheered, during which Brianna fought her hardest to prevent herself from copying the last word. “Do y’all have yer special talent yet?” She asked the twins.
The twins looked at each other, then back at the perky, little girl.
“I don’t know if we’ve found ours yet. People back home don’t usually find it until they’re around our age.” Brandon told Applebloom.
Applebloom gave a long gasp before her eyes widened. “We could find older Crusaders!”
The thought of more Crusaders brought a look of sheer horror from both sets of siblings, leaving them scrambling to change the subject. “Hey, uh…Applebloom, that’s a nice…umm…BOW, yeah, bow! That’s a nice bow you have!” Brianna stammered, still keeping Applebloom’s beaming smile afloat.
“Thank ya, Brianna! Ah’ve had this bow as long as ah can remember! There’s no way it’s gonna leave my head, ever!” Applebloom said, nodding her head to that condition.
“You live by the bow, you die by the bow.” Brianna giggled, hearing Brandon resist joining in.
“Say, Big Mac? Y’all managed to prep our latest batches?” Applejack asked the tall boy.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac answered in his trademark single word deep voice.
“Good job. Ah need ya to take inventory before we start buckin’ tomorrow, so can I count on ya for that, too?” Applejack asked as well.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac repeated. Brianna had mouthed the exact response, seeing it coming a mile away.
“You’re having way too much fun with this.” Brandon chuckled.
“What are you guys waiting for, anyway? Dig in!” Vinyl told them as everyone was passed a piece of apple pie.
The twins took in the smell of the apple pie as if they were staring at a piece of the heaves itself, Brianna especially. “First bite, bro. Come on.” She instructed her brother to prevent their hesitation.
Brandon quickly took a bite of the pie, closing his eyes in bliss from the taste. He might’ve preferred pumpkin pie, but this certainly ranked up there.
Brianna, on the other hand, seemed determined to over-exaggerate holding the piece of the pie up to her mouth. She took the plunge and took the bite.
And then she died and went to apple heaven.